Strategic Plan 2023–2028 · Year three of five
From beneficiaries to architects of their own future
Thirteen years of organising have given RFLD a working model. This plan puts it to work at continental scale: four strategic objectives and six fields of intervention, delivered by 1,143 women-led member organisations in more than 35 African countries.
Four strategic objectives
The plan’s organising frame
We advance the legal and political rights of women and girls, from domesticating the Maputo Protocol to bringing women into governance through PAWELE.
We protect civic space and women human rights defenders and expand SRHR through BRAVE, the African Digital Safety Compendium and rapid-response grants.
We advance women’s economic rights alongside climate justice, through the Climate Justice programme, gender-responsive budgeting, land rights and the care economy.
We strengthen women’s role in governance, peace and security through the ACDEG Hub, the West Africa Legislative Platform and peace and security work across ECOWAS.
Our strengths
What RFLD already brings to a partnership
The plan starts from assets already in place and already delivering.
A network with reach
1,143 women-led member organisations across 35+ countries, anchored in francophone West Africa and the Sahel, where few funders have direct partners.
Money that moves
Between June and September 2026 we awarded 16 grants, including €160,000 in sub-grants to nine women-led organisations, each accompanied through reporting and compliance.
Public data tools
Twelve open, bilingual tools, led by the DƆNÙESÈ Data Center and the Maputo Protocol Hub.
Verified accountability
Independent audits with unqualified opinions, grants published to IATI and a Candid 2025 Seal of Transparency.
Opportunities
Why this is the right moment
- The laws are already signed. States have adopted the Maputo Protocol and the ACDEG. The work now is implementation, where our hubs and network are strongest.
- A young continent ready to lead. More than 60 per cent of Africans are under 25. PAWELE prepares young women for the leadership roles now opening to them.
- Funders want trusted local partners. RFLD already meets international due diligence standards and can pass funding to groups donors cannot reach directly.
- A data gap we can close. Francophone Africa is under-represented in gender and rights data. Our tools publish in French and English.
Why it makes an impact
A plan built to compound
Most organisations do one of these things. RFLD holds four together in one operating model, and every claim can be checked against our audited accounts and published grant data.
Open data
Evidence from the DƆNÙESÈ Data Center sharpens every advocacy ask.
Policy hubs
Advocacy through the Maputo and ACDEG hubs opens doors to policy change.
Re-granting
The WAFF Fund moves resources straight to grassroots organisations.
Programmes
Community programmes deliver change and produce the next round of evidence.
The women’s rights sector in Africa has the ideas and the organisers. This plan builds the infrastructure to match, and to make it last.
If funders invest
What your investment unlocks
| Area | Where we are today | With your investment |
|---|---|---|
| Grassroots re-granting | 16 grants awarded between June and September 2026, including €160,000 in sub-grants to nine women-led organisations. | More grants, larger grants and faster decisions for small and rural organisations across the francophone and Sahel corridor. |
| Organisational strength | The RFLD Management Suite and accompaniment donated to a first cohort of member organisations. | Management systems in hundreds more hands, so members pass due diligence and hold funding on their own terms. |
| Open evidence | The DƆNÙESÈ Data Center and eleven further open tools covering 35+ countries. | The Data Center becomes the continent’s reference record on women’s rights, updated regularly. |
| Flagship programmes | PAWELE, BRAVE, Climate Justice and Health in Francophone Africa running with members. | Deeper programmes in more countries, and the launch of the Maternal and Newborn Survival Fund where mothers are most at risk. |
The most useful gift is flexible and multi-year. It funds the whole model at once and lets us act quickly when a defender is in danger.
Founded RFLD in 2012 and leads its strategy and institutional partnerships. AU AGA Youth Ambassador.
More than twelve years in communications and project management, previously with Equality Now and ACDHRS.
Oversees audited financial delivery and compliance with international donor standards.
Leads research, programme design and policy advisory work.
Continental footprint
Six offices, 35+ countries of active delivery
Ghana
Senegal
Benin
The Gambia
Nigeria
Benin
Institutional partners
Partner with RFLD
Build the next three years with us
Request an executive briefing or a working call on any strategic objective.